The Marketing Practice has acquired APAC-based ABM, demand and media specialists Rombii. It’s the company’s first acquisition in the region and its fifth in the last 18 months, making it the largest B2B tech marketing specialist in the world.
The acquisition of Rombii will enable The Marketing Practice to accelerate its growth across APAC following the success of its Sydney offices, led by Mari Kauppinen, who took up the role of managing director when it launched in January 2021. Through this latest acquisition, The Marketing Practice adds to its market-leading demand generation and ABM portfolio and will now employ over 80 people in Australia and Singapore.
Coming quickly after recent acquisitions in North America and EMEA, the acquisition of Rombii is another step in The Marketing Practice’s ambition to create a world-beating growth platform for B2B globally.
The combined group has a strong track record of delivering pan-APAC programmes and this acquisition will enable operations to gather substantial pace across the breadth of the region.
Rombii will provide further capabilities to The Marketing Practice in media, data, audience insight and sales activation. With offices in Singapore and Sydney, it reflects a significant investment in the APAC market. For Rombii, becoming part of The Marketing Practice offers its clients global scale and delivery.
The Marketing Practice now employs over 500 people worldwide, representing the next milestone in the first phase of the company’s growth and firmly establishing its capabilities for providing a truly global end-to-end offering for its clients.
Rombii’s founder Sam Howell and its managing director Marcus Wilkinson will remain in their roles. Rombii joins US-based Campaign Stars and 90octane alongside Kingpin and Omobono, all of which were acquired in the last 18 months and will fall under The Marketing Practice brand.
Backed by Horizon Capital, The Marketing Practice is bringing together the very best in specialist B2B marketing in a fully integrated strategy, helping clients take more accountability for growth and revenue impact, so that marketing becomes the “engine room for growth” in B2B businesses.
Matt Harper, CEO of The Marketing Practice said: “From the outset, it’s been clear that The Marketing Practice and Rombii share a belief in the huge opportunity in the APAC region and globally for integrated, commercially-focused B2B marketing. Rombii has an excellent track record and a reputation for great customer service across APAC. By joining forces we can give clients across both businesses access to a richer set of skills and capability, both locally within APAC and in global programmes.”
Mari Kauppinen (main image), managing director of The Marketing Practice, Australia, said: “Like us, Rombii are B2B tech specialists and there’s a great cultural fit. We’re excited about partnering with Rombii and what the combined offering means for our clients and the growth and development opportunities for our people. We’re building the best in B2B, and Rombii is a huge step in that direction.”
Sam Howell, founder of Rombii, said: “Marcus and I are truly excited about what this means for our clients and the team. This acquisition will enable us to further invest in the breadth and skills of our people and to immediately expand and deepen our coverage across the region. We can now offer clients end-to-end marketing services with global capability while maintaining a focus on providing strong client service at a local level and in native languages.
“TMP’s commitment to growing the APAC footprint from within APAC ensures we can continue to provide solutions for our clients that are built and developed locally, with an appreciation and understanding of the nuances in each market in what is a diverse region.”
Marcus Wilkinson, managing director of Rombii, commented: “By joining The Marketing Practice family we have the opportunity to further increase our investment in APAC by growing both the support and solutions we provide for customers across the region.
“One of The Marketing Practice’s ongoing objectives is to also be the best place to build a career in B2B marketing. We view becoming part of this organisation as a huge investment in our people and we couldn’t be more excited about the leadership opportunities and support they’ll receive, particularly in Singapore and other key markets.”
